We place our hope in an Almighty, unchanging God who has intended us good and loved us in Jesus Christ.

Monday, March 17, 2014

Leading as a Husband - from Dr. Stuart Scott

On the web people come across things that impact their life for good or ill. I hope you've stumbled on this and it will be a blessing from God to you, especially today to Christian husbands.

In Dr. Stuart Scott's book for small group use, couples study or counseling, called Exemplary Husband, he lays out the difference between a husband living in natural, fallen leadership versus spiritual, in Christ leadership. You can find it at Barnes & Noble.com here.

The natural, fallen man is the only one making his decisions, enjoys commanding others, motivated only by personal considerations, and so on. The spiritually wise husband is confident because he's confident in God, not himself, he knows God, he seeks to find God's will and info on decisions, is motivated by God's love and love for man, and so on. That's an excerpt from the way one of the chapters in the book, on leading, starts out.

This style of leadership a Christian husband is to have some checks then on authority. He'll be cautious to seek God's will when he has to confront his wife, he will be wiser about how he addresses situations, and he will seek out order and leading in his family actively rather than being an average passive American dad. He will provide vision on where they are going with finances, how his family will serve Jesus locally, giving stability to his family, and planning provision long-term. These are a few of the differences between a passive husband, who lets his wife do it all, or most of it, related to the finances and kids and direction of their family.

Using the example of Jesus as a shepherd, Scott recommends how you can lead well. You'll have to buy a copy of the book to get all of the info, but at least you can see what you're getting into if you've stumbled upon this good resource for your Christian living.

One powerful example that lots of dads benefit from in studies I've led, is in the leadership chapter on how "a shepherd is involved." You have to have courage, faith in God, and trusting the Bible that you'll succeed for God's glory. You need to reject busyness or fearing a lot of work or what not, and instead step it up to lead.
The chapter closes out with a word of encouragement. That is how you need to walk as a Christian husband, encouraged God is for you, and that you must take action to actually lead in a Christlike way. God will bless that effort as part of the walk of faith.